Charter Schools Not Likely for Kentucky

When the current Kentucky legislative session ends this week, many issues will be left on the table for the future including the issue of charter schools. Kentucky is among just nine states without charters and the push to change that has been polarizing in Frankfort.

A compromise to create a pilot charter project was close to passage last month but fell apart at the last minute.

Former Louisville mayoral candidate Hal Heiner is the head of a recently formed group that ran TV ads in support of charter schools earlier this year and he's still hopeful, "My hope is that Kentucky would follow Tennessee's lead where they called a special session for charter schools," Heiner told Kentucky Public Radio, "Their Democratic governor called a special session, they expanded their charter school program."

Heiner blames teachers' unions for blocking the legislation in Kentucky. But union leaders say charter schools don't guarantee academic success. They want the state to wait until the most recently implemented education reforms take full effect before considering charters.

Heiner declined to say what his new pro-charter group plans to do for the rest of the year.